165 replies to this topic

[nmigliore]

I've always liked Harden, when healthy. Unfortunately that's not often. Still, good pickup with upside.

Wouldn't Erik Bedard make sense for the Yankees? He comes with a lot of injury risk, but hes pitching really well this year (3.39 xFIP).

[thefiestygoat]

I've always liked Harden, when healthy. Unfortunately that's not often. Still, good pickup with upside.

Wouldn't Erik Bedard make sense for the Yankees? He comes with a lot of injury risk, but hes pitching really well this year (3.39 xFIP).

I'd be open to Bedard but I doubt Cashman would be willing to give up what Seattle would want in return. At this point I don't see Cashman making a move but then again he does have the tendency to surprise us from time to time. I gotta give him credit for not mortgaging the farm to overpay for a questionable guy to win this year. It would be easy to just trade away prospects on your way out the door.

[thefiestygoat]

http://tsn.ca/mlb/story/?id=372888

Apparently the Harden deal is off.

[nmigliore]

Michael Bourn to the Braves for 4 minor leaguers. The haul looks pretty eh, but I guess someone of his skillset (great speed/defense, okay bat) is just not that highly valued on the trade market. Believe it or not, Bourn is actually the WAR leader among centerfielders from 2009-11. Great deal for Atlanta.

Edited by nmigliore, 31 July 2011 - 09:29 AM.

[grcenter47]

what is everyone's opinion on detroit tigers pitcher justin verlander? possibly a future HOF?

[Masked Fan]

Absolutely... Of course he needs to continue doing what he does, but that being the case, he'll go in.

i was just talking today about how fortunate we are to be able to watch him pitch and see him work. I mean how many pitchers can you say could throw a perfect game or no hitter every damn game he is up there nowadays? I know I'm biased, but I think he is THE top pitcher today and anyone able to watch him pitch gets a treat and will get to say they saw him pitch such-and-such game back in 2011 when talking about one of the great pitchers of all time.

[nmigliore]

Verlander is awesome; if not the best pitcher over the last 3 seasons, then definitely near the top. If he keeps up the pace hes at over the next 4-5 seasons, he'll definitely be at least a HoF candidate (from my perspective, at least).

Edited by nmigliore, 04 August 2011 - 11:30 PM.

[nmigliore]

Just noticed the Tigers acquired Delmon Young. I initially laughed, until I realized how awful Ordonez has been this year, jeez. Young is actually going to be an upgrade for them for the stretch run. It doesn't look like Detroit gave up anything of interest either, so, er, good move for them, I guess....

Edited by nmigliore, 15 August 2011 - 06:40 PM.

[nmigliore]

Congrats to Jim Thome on 600 homeruns! Tremendous accomplishment. What a career.

Edited by nmigliore, 15 August 2011 - 08:47 PM.

[devilsrule33]

Congrats to Jim Thome on 600 homeruns! Tremendous accomplishment. What a career.

Just saw that now. 599 and 600 on one night. Nice reaction from the Tigers fans. He's one of those guys that you just think did it the right way too.

[thefiestygoat]

Congrats to Thome, amazing accomplishment!

[nmigliore]

The Jays just traded Aaron Hill and John McDonald for Kelly Johnson. Haha, Alex A. is trying to steal draft pick(s) again. He pretty much did the same thing with Miguel Olivo last season. I like this move for them. There's certainly some risk in that he could accept arbitration, but even if he does, he'd still be an upgrade over Aaron Hill and could be a solid bounce-back candidate after the way he performed last season. Plus, its not like the Jays have any special in-house options for the position.

Edited by nmigliore, 23 August 2011 - 03:14 PM.

[nmigliore]

Just watching the Rangers/Angels game on ESPN tonight, I couldn't help but think of that Vernon Wells trade again. I mean this isn't really new, but seriously... what were they thinking? It would have been bad enough acquiring him for nothing. But they gave up Mike Napoli, who has, unsurprisingly I might add, gone one to have an outstanding season with Texas. In fact, hes been one of the best hitters in baseball, when hes played. And here the Angels sit, with Vernon Wells, his mid-.600's OPS, his ludicrous contract, and Jeff Mathis, whose OPS is about .100 points less than Mike Napoli's slugging percentage, as their starting catcher. Amazing. And to add salt to the wound, Napoli is on a division rival, greatly helping them beat out the Angels for the AL West title.

Edited by nmigliore, 28 August 2011 - 10:37 PM.

[Masked Fan]

Big come back win tonight from the Tigers!

Keep piling on those W's boys!!!

[nmigliore]

They'll probably win that division; Baseball Prospectus gives them a greater than 92% chance as of right now.

Alex Avila has been pretty incredible. There's definitely some flukiness to his numbers, but he looks like a real keeper. I don't think its too early to start talking about him as one of the best catchers in the game.

Also, Miguel Cabrera looks likes hes well on his way to the Hall of Fame. He may get some flack for his off-the-field issues and his defense, but he is an amazing hitter.

Can't go without praising their most valuable player either: Justin Verlander. He's the the Cy Young Award winner for me right now, and there's probably no way he doesn't end up winning it.

Edited by nmigliore, 03 September 2011 - 11:36 PM.

[Masked Fan]

Tigers are loving the spotlight! 12-0 and counting bot 6!


OK Tigers hang 7 on em in the 6th, now 16-0 then Max Scherzer comes out and has a 7 pitch 7th. muwahahahahaha!

Edited by Masked Fan, 04 September 2011 - 09:52 PM.

[nmigliore]

Should Adrian Beltre be a future Hall of Famer? A recent article by Rob Neyer inspired this thought...

Sunday afternoon, Adrian Beltre singled in the sixth inning -- a seven-run sixth inning, as it happened -- which was a notable milestone because it was Beltre's 2,000th hit.

As Aaron Gleeman pointed out earlier this season, there are a fair number of players with 2,000 hits.

What sets Beltre apart are two things:

1. He's a third baseman, and

2. he's only 32 years old.

Beltre is the youngest third baseman in major-league history to reach 2,000 hits.

Oddly, neither the second youngest nor the fourth youngest are in the Hall of Fame.

Beltre reached 2,000 at 32 years, 5 months and 28 days.

Ron Santo reached 2,000 at 32 years, 6 months and 1 day.

George Brett reached 2,000 at 33 years, 10 days.

Buddy Bell reached 2,000 at 33 years, 7 months and 30 days.

Of course, George Brett's in the Hall of Fame and Ron Santo should be. Buddy Bell's even got a better argument than you probably think, but his last good season came at 35 and he was finished at 37.

Anyway, there are two points here.

One, Beltré's on track for some pretty impressive career numbers.

Two, he's already done some pretty impressive things.

When's the last time you heard some attach future Hall of Famer to "Adrian Beltré"? Or superstar?

http://mlb.sbnation.com/2011/9/5/2405180/adrian-beltre-dummy-hed

Of course, I don't think anyone views Beltre as some elite hitter. His career OPS+ is 108, and hes had a sub-100 OPS+ in 6 of his total 14 seasons. One thing the article (surprisingly) fails to mention is why Beltre is even in the Hall of Fame discussion in the first place: defense. Fangraphs gives him credit for 152.9 runs contributed from defense, which ranks 6th best among 3B on their career leaderboards, and he looks poised to jump to 3rd, or even 2nd best with another great defensive season or 2. His career Fangraphs' WAR sits at 54.3, which is very impressive for a still-quite-productive 32 year old. The typical Hall of Fame "zone" is 50-60 WAR. However, peak does matter, and Beltre has only 2 seasons of an fWAR of 5 or greater.

It's really tough for me. As of right now, I would probably say no. However, if he were to accumulate another 10-15 career WAR? He'd have to be yes for me at that point, I think. I think that's very do-able too, as hes only 32 years old, and is in the midst of another very good season: he can still hit (112 OPS+) and hes still exceptional in the field (+11.3 UZR).

What do people think? Is Adrian Beltre a future Hall of Famer? Or more importantly, should he be a future Hall of Famer?

Edited by nmigliore, 05 September 2011 - 06:39 PM.